DVD rentals business

paulsm

I am possibly looking to buy a local corner shop/newsagent and would like to add DVD rentals , does anyone know how this works ie do I buy outright the DVDs or rent from a supplier or maybe "franchise" from a buyer? Thanks for any advice.

richt71

paulsm wrote:

I am possibly looking to buy a local corner shop/newsagent and would like to add DVD rentals , does anyone know how this works ie do I buy outright the DVDs or rent from a supplier or maybe "franchise" from a buyer? Thanks for any advice.

Sorry can't help you but just a note of caution my local dvd rental place closed recently as he said there was no money in it for him with loads of cheap rental places via post now. Of course it may be different as a sideline rather than a total business like my local one was.

kassytbag

hi im sorry to sound so thick but how do i enter a question for the general debt free wannabees section?
thanks

paulsm

same as you did here

richt71

kassytbag wrote:

hi im sorry to sound so thick but how do i enter a question for the general debt free wannabees section?
thanks

Select that section from the chat forums. Then use the button 'new thread' - top left hand side of that section. That should open a post box.

go4it

There are cheap rental places by post, but they have one major (very big) flaw - you get what you're given.

If I want to rent the Da Vinci Code by post, I have to add that to my list and wait for it to be sent, that could be a few days or a few months!!

With a shop, you can walk in and get it in a few minutes. You can reserve titles and get them when you want. I believe that there will always be a market for this.

If you set one up, concentrate on recently released DVDs, ones not on Sky Box Office or Pay Per View yet. Market it on the fact 'watch your first choice in your time'.

paulsm

I too think in a local walking distance shop it is still a viable thing , I just dont know how it is done? I am pretty sure I wouldnt have to buy all the DVDs

Astaroth

To be honest I cant think of any chain stores for DVD rentals other than Blockbusters and according to their website they dont do franchises:
http://www.blockbuster.co.uk/Help/FAQPage.aspx?faqname=stores#hsfranchise

I would imagine that unless you are a franchise that you certainly have to buy your stock. I know back in the days of VHS there were "special" copies released for rental purposes which whilst the content may have been identical the sell price factored in the different copyright/ customer rights required for this market but then when a normal VHS cassette was £10-£15 the Rental new copies I saw were £60-£90 saying that though rental companies back then would have at least a few months of exclusivity time before it hit the shelves for public purchasing.

ukbill69

There was 2 rental places in my town, blockbuster come along and guess what put them out of business lol.

jazzt1

You can either lease a package from a company or buy the dvd's outright from a wholesaler such as THE, Changeover, GRD etc. My Dad has a very small dvd rental shop and we buy them outright - started out with a package deal (you pay a certain amount each month for a package of say, 50 dvd's and get a mixture of some older stuff and some new stuff, with new stock arriving each week and you send some of the older stuff back in exchange. We found eventually though that it was a bit of a rip-off, could actually make money (!) and have more control of stock, quantities etc by buying the products ourselves.

If you try searching you might find contact details on the internet, but think this might be a number for GRD - 01282 684 801

Astaroth is right that the rental copies are more expensive than retail ones - you may notice that the retail copies have a yellow box with 'NOT FOR RENTAL' on the back cover - and sometimes have a message at the beginning of the dvd itself when it is played stating that if you have rented this dvd you should report it to the relevant authority etc. If you do try to rent out retail copies you could get in serious trouble.

One problem with DVD's against the old VHS is that they don't last as long - you should see the state of some of the dvd's that we get back from customers! They can be so badly scratched, you wonder what the hell people do with them.

Sorry for such a long reply, hope it's of some use to you and good luck if you decide to go ahead with your plan!

competitionscafe

My local shop has a self service dvd machine - don't know who supplies them though. There are also 2 or 3 independent dvd rental shops (and a blockbuster) within walking distance, so i guess there must be some market for them....